Facebook is a massive enterprise, and ever since Mark Zuckerberg came up with the concept in his Ivy League dorm room, the site has been adapting, growing, and ostensibly taking over the world. In the realm of social media, growth is often equal to ad revenue — but law enforcement in Belgium sees one Facebook update as a total breach of privacy. In the past few months, Facebook added “reactions” to their website, but the police have been warning users from actually using any of them. Find out why below — it might make you think twice before hitting the “Like” button.It’s not just about the “Like” button anymore.
Nothing about them is illegal, right?
The Belgian police recently released an article stating that they believe the buttons are being used to gather info on Facebook users.
According to their article, “The icons help not only express your feelings, they also help Facebook assess the effectiveness of the ads on your profile.”
“By limiting the number of icons to six, Facebook is counting on you to express your thoughts more easily so that the algorithms that run in the background are more effective.”
In the article, they wrote “That [it] will help Facebook find the perfect location, on your profile, allowing it to display content that will arouse your curiosity but also to choose the time you present it. If it appears that you are in a good mood, it can deduce that you are more receptive.”
According to the Belgian police, all you have to do is be careful what you click on and “react” to.
Using methods of targeted advertising (and collecting personal data) is kind of what the Internet is all about these days. It’s not just Facebook, either.
And if not, don’t! Either way, your user experience is really up to you.
